Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
Gov. Maura Healey today filed a $2.45 billion supplemental budget bill to address deficiencies and meet time-sensitive budget needs as Massachusetts closes the books on fiscal 2025.
The bill would deposit $125 million into the state’s stabilization fund, and would create a new Economic Resiliency and Federal Response Fund, seeded with fiscal 2025 excess capital gains revenue, to ensure that the state remains fiscally resilient against the negative impacts of federal budgetary and policy decisions.
In fiscal 2025, the state collected $2.98 billion in revenue from the voter-approved Fair Share income surtax — $1.7 billion more than was budgeted. The governor’s bill proposes transferring $150 million in excess Fair Share revenue to the Student Opportunity Act Investment Fund to support communities, students and educators.
In a prepared statement, the governor said her bill would ensure “that our state budget remains responsible, while also strengthening our ability to weather economic unpredictability coming from Washington.”
She said the bill would close gaps in the fiscal 2025 state budget for services such as universal free school meals and care at public health hospitals. It also proposes a limited amount of new spending, for items such as the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the 2026 World Cup, and grants to reproductive health care providers.
The largest cost addressed in the bill is for services provided by MassHealth in fiscal 2025 — with $2.05 billion (at a net cost to the state of $539.7 million after federal reimbursements).
The bill would also appropriate:
• $162.7 million for a reserve to cover costs accrued by Massachusetts sheriffs
• $75 million for housing preservation and stabilization
• $60.7 million for snow and ice removal
• $20 million to support costs associated with hosting the 2026 World Cup
• $20 million for the Massachusetts Life Science Center
• $18.5 million for public health hospital operations
• $12 million for universal school meals
• $7.2 million for Department of Correction facilities operations
• $6.8 million for the Clean Water Trust Fund
• $5 million for direct supports to reproductive health providers at risk of losing federal funding
• $3.5 million for State Police operations
• $700,000 for the Suffolk County district attorney’s office
The administration said the net cost of the supplemental budget bill to the state is $947 million after revenue offsets.
Due to uncertainty surrounding federal permitting and tax credits, the bill proposes more flexibility in the state’s timeline for offshore wind procurements in response to changing market conditions. The supplemental budget would extend the deadline for the state to contract for 5,600 MW of offshore wind from 2027 to 2029, and would remove the requirement that a solicitation be conducted every 24 months.
Another outside section would expand the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s authority to decouple immunization recommendations and requirements in Massachusetts from federal standards, if necessary, to preserve public health.
The bill would also set Sept. 1, 2026, as the statewide primary election day.